In the case of SFC Martland, it is truly disgusting because in the Army we teach and are taught that we should all do the HARD RIGHT instead of the EASY WRONG. This is what separates the sheepdogs from the sheep. Standing up for what is right and having the courage and intestinal fortitude to do it. Trust me it is not easy and many times, not possible. Our soldiers are put in the middle of a rock and a hard place when they see something as horrific as child rape and abuse happening, or even soldier male on male rape happen. And also know that they are told by all levels “it isn’t our job to install our values into their culture” and to know that if they offend, humiliate and piss off the same Afghans who’s protection our vulnerable soldiers depend on for force protection could cause an American’s death.

It doesn’t take long in country to realize that the time a person has left there won’t make a squat of a difference to how the place turns out or how the people there act. There is an old Afghan saying, “Americans may have the watches, but Afghans have the time”. They know they can wait us out; they know their country has been at war longer than our country has been in existence.

The situations that guys like SFC Martland, LCpl Buckley and countless others have found themselves in, is almost unimaginable. Even though our forces are not there to instill our way of life, our western values, etc., our soldiers are still human beings. It does not matter what political party someone belongs to, what religion they have (if any), or what part of the country they were raised in. Respecting human life and protecting the innocent is a basic characteristic of a sane person. It is against our DNA to take another human life, and for anyone with a conscious whom is not an evil animal, to abuse and molest child is not conceivable. Our warfighters at all ranks and ages from the private to the most senior leaders see this stuff if they are anywhere around Afghan forces or the public. What do you expect a soldier like SFC Martland do when a mother brings her young son to him that has been raped and the mom herself beaten for complaining about it. To make it worse, these horrible acts were done by a public official who is entrusted to protect the innocent people and this is supposed to be a person that a soldier is mentoring.

How do you look evil in the eye like that and not let it affect you? How do you act like it never happened? How cold-hearted do you have to be to ignore this type of evil? If you ask me, this is the type of soldiers we DON’T WANT. I want and I expect our military to have compassion for those that are innocent. That is what keeps them human, that is what keeps them focused on what is important in life. They are not stormtroopers or SS Nazis or robots, they were human beings before they stepped up to defend out country, and they hopefully will be humans after.

Had SFC Martland never taken action and a “investigative” film crew were to go to Afghanistan and film this attack and then film SFC Martland ignoring it, the American people, Mainstream Media, Hollywood and probably the administration would “take action” and do their best to shame any soldier that let something like this happen. Based on history and their actions to date, I can guarantee you that is exactly what would happen. So he was damned if he did or damned if he didn’t.

There are stories from my time in Afghanistan that I could bore you with of American soldiers doing the HARD RIGHT with Afghans security forces that caused the soldiers to be investigated, have marks put on their careers and negative actions taken against them by their superiors. When I talk with people, or do interviews and say “The American People will never be able to comprehend how the Afghans live”, it is these type of incidents I am thinking of at the time.

I belong to several private groups on Facebook and other social media outlets where I have seen multiple comments from people whom have NEVER been there say what they would do and how they would never let this happen. To be honest, they are talking out of their ass and doing nothing more than “Monday-morning quarterbacking”. Until someone is there and dealing with all the factors and issues while being in country, they have no idea what or how they would act. So I ask anyone reading this, before you obtain a “holier than thou” attitude with your “expert” opinion; just take a knee, drink water and STFU.